31 May, 2016

Indian medical colleges lag in research: Lancet report

Indian medical colleges are churning out doctors but barely any researchers, if a report published in the revered medical journal Lancet is an indication. "India's medical schools have neglected research as a focal point of academics and they produce few publications," the report says.

According to a study cited in the report, over 332 of 579 (57%) medical colleges didn't publish a single research paper between 2005 and 2014. It refers to a recent report of the parliamentary standing committee on health , which called for the scrapping of the Medical Council of India (MCI), mentioning that the Supreme Court has described the state of medical colleges as "rotten", and says research is seen as a "non-profitable activity" by Indian medical schools.

The report blames a massive patient burden and lack of resources and faculty for the phenomenon. Experts believe this will have serious implications on handling healthcare challenges in India. Lack of infrastructure is another impediment.

The study points out that only 25 (4.3%) institutions produced more than 100 research papers in a year and their contribution was 40.3% of the total output. "The states with the highest number of private medical colleges fare the worst - more than 90% of the medical colleges in Karnataka and Kerala have published no paper. In contrast, the annual research output of the Massachusetts General Hospital was 4,600 and Mayo Clinic 3,700," the study added.

The study concludes that medical education has becomes a business and hence research is looked at as a non-profitable activity. "A drastic overhaul of Indian medical education is necessary, similar to that initiated by Abraham Flexner in the US," the study says.

Lack of data and and irregular patient follow-up leads to inadequate research, says Dr B S Ajai Kumar, renowned oncologist, founder and CEO, HealthCare Global Enterprises Ltd. "Definitely, research has been neglected in Indian medical schools over the years. The institutions focus on academics and clinical analysis and ignore research. There is enormous clinical material for research in India," he said.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

31.05.2016

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